FM 100-10
ANNEX F
Field Services
Field services are no longer classified as either primary or secondary. Instead, all field
services receive the same basic priority. The commander decides which are most important.
The Army service component commander influences priorities through the total Army
analysis process or through the time-phased force deployment list. For instance, laundry and
shower units may be top priority in desert contingencies, while airdrop resupply may be more
important in mountain contingencies. During MOOTW, the priority depends on the type of
support being provided. In some circumstances, field service units or activities may be the
only support provided.
LOCATIONS
Quartermaster Corps personnel in a variety of units
perform field service functions. During operations
involving combat, military personnel provide most of
the field services support in forward areas, with HNS
and contractors providing a limited amount. Nonversely, HNS and contractors provide much of the
support in rear areas. During MOOTW, field
services support at all levels may come from a
variety of sources. LOGCAP, discussed in Chapter 2, is one potential source of field service
support in all operations.
FOOD PREPARATION
The field feeding system assumes theater-wide use
Food preparation is a basic unit function performed
of the meal, ready-to-eat (MRE) for the first several
by food service personnel throughout the theater. It is
days following deployment. The theater then begins to
one of the most important factors in soldier health,
transition to prepared group feeding rations. These
morale, and welfare. Virtually every type of unit in the
include A-, B-, and heat-and-serve-rations. Initially,
force structure, divisional and nondivisional, has some
the theater transitions from the MRE to the B-and heatorganic food service personnel. These personnel supand-serve-rations. Then as the operational situation
port the unit’s food service program as directed by the
permits, logisticians attempt to introduce the A-ration
commander.
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(fresh foods) into the theater. This requires extensive
logistics expansion since it requires refrigerated storage and distribution equipment along with a capability to make or acquire ice for unit storage. The feeding
standard is to provide soldiers at all echelons three
quality meals. The meals fed depend on the prevailing
conditions. Disposal of garbage is important to avoid
leaving signature trails. See FM 10-1 for details.
The bakery function, previously classified as a field
service, is now an integral portion of field feeding.
Production of bread on the battlefield, other than in the
field feeding system or through contractor support, will
no longer take place. Normal Class I supply channels
will handle pouched bread. The bakery function is no
longer a stand-alone field service.
WATER PURIFICATION
Water is an essential commodity. It is necessary for
sanitation, food preparation, construction, and decontamination. Support activities, such as helicopter
maintenance and operation of medical facilities, consume large volumes of water. It is critical to the
individual soldier. Classification of the water function
is somewhat different from other commodities; it is
both a field service and a supply function. Water
purification is a field service. Quartermaster supply
units normally perform purification in conjunction
with storage and distribution of potable water--a supply function. GS and DS water units do not store or
distribute nonpotable water. Therefore, nonpotable
water requirements (for example, water for construction, laundry, and showers) are the responsibility
of the user.
Water supply units perform routine testing. However, water quality monitoring is primarily the responsibility of the preventive medicine personnel of the
medical command or corps. The command surgeon
performs tests associated with water source approval,
monitors potable water, and interprets the water testing
results.
Each service provides its own water resource support. However, the Army or another service provides
support beyond a service’s capability in a joint operation. AR 700-136 details the responsibilities of Army
elements for water support.
The Corps of Engineers plays a major role in providing water to our forces. The engineers, through the
Topogmphical Engineering Center, develop and maintain an automated data base for the rapid retrieval of
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water source related data. The engineers are also
responsible for finding subsurface water; drilling wells;
and constructing, repairing, maintaining, and operating permanent and semipermanent water facilities. In
addition, they assist water units with site preparation
when required.
The quantity of water required depends on the
regional climate and the type and scope of operations.
Temperate, tropic, and arctic environments normally
have enough fresh surface and subsurface water sources
to meet raw water requirements for the force. In arid
regions, provision of water takes on significantly greater
dimensions. Soldiers must drink more water. Water
requirements are significantly greater in rear areas,
where there is heavy demand for water for aircraft and
vehicle washing, medical treatment, laundry and shower
facilities, and construction projects. Planners may
easily underestimate water requirements for enemy
prisoners of war. They must consider the potential
absence of water capability in enemy units and the
requirement for on-site sanitation, shower, delousing,
and medical support for in-coming prisoners. Since
water is a critical commodity in arid regions, managers
must strictly control its use. Commanders set up a
priority and allocation system.
Because of the scarcity of potable water in some
contingency areas, water support equipment is
prepositioned afloat. This allows for initial support to a
contingency force. Additional water equipment is available in CONUS depots to sustain operations. Most of
this equipment is packaged for tactical transportability. Its configuration allows for throughput to the user
with minimal handling in the theater of operations.
FM 100-10
In nonarid regions, DS supply units in the DISCOM
and at EAD provide water purification and water supply support on an area basis. During the early stages of
a contingency operation, the DISCOM may provide
water for nondivisional units until additional logistics
units arrive.
In arid regions where sufficient water sources are not
available, EAD units establish GS water systems. GS
water purification elements supplement the capabilities of the DS elements. GS water supply companies set
up and operate bulk storage and distribution facilities
or terminals. Tactical water distribution teams can be
assigned to water supply companies to augment capabilities for distribution via hose line. These GS water
supply companies distribute potable water to DS supply units for nondivisional customers and to the divisions. Hose lines, pipelines, or trucks move potable
water to forward areas. Division capabilities are augmented with storage and distribution systems to provide for one day of supply on the ground in both the
DSA and BSA. Truck companies augmented with
semitrailer-mounted fabric tanks provide line-haul of
water at the tactical level.
MORTUARY AFFAIRS
The Mortuary Affairs Program is a broadly based
military program to provide for the necessary care and
disposition of deceased personnel. It supports both war
and MOOTW. The program can have a direct and
sudden impact on the morale of soldiers and the American public. It provides flexible support in a forceprojection environment. Each service has the responsibility for the return of remains and personal effects to
CONUS. The Army is designated as the executive
agent for the Joint Mortuary Affairs Program. It
maintains a Central Joint Mortuary Affairs Office
(CJMAO) and provides general support to other services when their requirements exceed their capabilities. The Mortuary Affairs Program is divided into
three subprograms:
The Current Death Program operates around the
world in peacetime and outside of areas of conflict
during military operations. It may also continue in
areas of conflict depending on the CSS and tactical
situation. It provides mortuary supplies and associated
services for permanent disposition of remains and
personal effects of persons for whom the Army is or
becomes responsible.
The Graves Registration Program provides for
search, recovery, initial identification, and temporary
burial of deceased personnel in temporary burial sites.
Temporary burials are a last resort, and the theater
commander must authorize them. It also provides for
the care and maintenance of burial sites and for the
handling and disposition of personal effects.
The Concurrent Return Program is a combination
of the Current Death and Graves Registration Programs. This program provides for the search, recovery,
and evacuation of remains to collection points and
further evacuation to a mortuary. It provides for
identification and preparation of remains in a mortuary
and shipment to a final destination as directed by the
next of kin.
The joint staff provides general guidance and policy
to the unified commands and military departments
within DOD. Within DA, the Deputy Chief of Staff for
Personnel has overall responsibility for the Mortuary
Affairs Program and manages peacetime operations.
The Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics is responsible
for field operations during time of war. The US Army
Training and Doctrine Command develops the
standardized training and doctrine for the military
services. The unified commander develops implementation plans based on the joint staff policy and doctrine.
At the unified command level, a joint mortuary affairs
office provides the commander with guidance, coordination capability, and the staff supervision for all
mortuary affairs.
All commanders are responsible for the search,
recovery, tentative identification, care, and evacuation
of remains to the nearest collection point or mortuary.
Each division has a small mortuary affairs element
(two to three personnel) organic to the DISCOM. They
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train division personnel to perform initial search, recovery, identification, and evacuation of human remains and personal effects. During hostilities, the
mortuary affairs personnel organic to the division
operate collection points. This procedure continues
until the division receives additional mortuary affairs
personnel or a mortuary affairs unit. A mortuary
affairs unit assigned to the corps support command
supports nondivisional units on an area basis. This unit
operates collection points throughout the corps, division, and brigade areas. These points receive remains
from the maneuver units, assist and conduct search and
recovery operations, and arrange for the evacuation of
remains to a mortuary or temporary burial site.
Mortuary affairs units operate theater collection
points, evacuation points, and personal effects depots.
Mortuary affairs personnel initially process remains in
theater. Then they arrange to evacuate remains and
personal effects, usually by air, to a CONUS point of
entry mortuary. CONUS port of entry mortuaries
provide a positive identification of the remains and
prepare them for release in accordance with the desires
of the next of kin. Recent wars and MOOTW have
shown this policy is quite effective.
When directed by the unified commander, mortuary
affairs units establish cemeteries and provide for temporary interment of remains. Mortuary affairs units may
also operate in-theater mortuaries, but they require personnel and equipment augmentation or host nation support for identification of remains and embalming.
To further our national policy of returning all US
service personnel who die in any theater of operation to
the next of kin, new decontamination procedures are
under development. Plans call for the establishment of
a task organized mortuary affairs decontamination
collection point. Personnel set up and operate a point
near areas that have a large number of contaminated
remains. For other cases, collection point teams may
decontaminate remains. FM 10-63 and JP 4-06 have
more information on decontamination of remains and
mortuary affairs in general.
AIRDROP
Support of airdrop equipment and systems includes
parachute packing, air item maintenance, and rigging
supplies and equipment. The airdrop function supports
both airborne insertions and airdrop/airland resupply.
Airborne insertions involve the delivery of an airborne
fighting force, along with its supplies and equipment,
to an objective area by parachute. FM 100-27 covers
airborne insertions in detail. Airdrop resupply operations apply to all Army forces. The airdrop function
supports the movement of personnel, equipment, and
supplies. It is a vital link in the distribution system; it
provides the capability of supplying the force even
when land LOCs have been disrupted. It adds flexibility to the distribution system.
AMC manages most airdrop equipment and systems
(ADES) at the national strategic level. It includes the
NICP and national maintenance point for ADES. At
the operational level, there are two types of airdrop
support units. A heavy airdrop supply company provides reinforcing support to corps level airdrop supply
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companies. In addition, an airdrop equipment repair
and supply company provides supply and maintenance
support to airdrop supply companies in the corps (other
than the airborne corps) and at echelons above corps.
A light airdrop supply company provides airdrop/
airland resupply support to the corps. In addition, it
provides personnel parachute support to units such as
long range surveillance units. If the corps cannot
support an airdrop request, it passes the request to the
airdrop supply company at EAC. Most of the supplies
used for rigging by the airdrop supply company come
directly from the strategic level, bypassing the airdrop
equipment repair and supply company at EAC. The
EAC ADES repair and supply company provides ADES
maintenance support for the corps light airdrop supply
company. The airborne corps has an organic airdrop
capability. If it cannot meet the airdrop resupply
requirement, it forwards the requirement to the supporting airdrop unit at EAC.
FM 100-10
Airdrop resupply support must be flexible. Certain
contingencies may require airdrop resupply support
from the beginning of hostilities. However, the requisite airdrop support structure is not likely to be in place
due to deployment priorities. In such cases, the operational level commander should consider having a portion of the supporting airdrop supply company deploy
to the DOD depot responsible for supply support to the
contingency area. If forces require airdrop resupply
prior to the deployment of the airdrop support units to
the theater, the units may rig supplies for airdrop at the
DOD depot. Supplies are then flown directly to the
airdrop location. This would require adaptation of the
request procedures outlined in FM 100-27.
LAUNDRY, SHOWER, AND CLOTHING
AND LIGHT TEXTILE REPAIR
Clean, serviceable clothing and showers are essential for hygiene and morale purposes. During peacetime, shower, laundry, and clothing repair are normally
provided through fixed facilities or field expedient
methods for short duration exercises. During war and
MOOTW, they are provided as far forward as the
brigade area. The goal is to provide soldiers with one
shower and up to 15 pounds of laundered clothing each
week. Soldiers receive their own clothing from a
tactical laundry within 24 hours. Responsibilities at
the strategic level are basically those involving provisioning. Clothing replacement, a Class II function, is
covered in Annex A.
Forces receive support from a combination of units,
HNS, and contractor. In rear areas, HNS and contractors may provide much of this support. LOGCAP
offers considerable capability during the early deployment stages. A laundry and renovation company may
provide GS laundry capability. The capability to repair
medium- and heavy-weight textiles is in selected maintenance units. These elements repair canvas and fabrics used on vehicles and items such as seat covers,
tarpaulins, cargo covers, and swim barriers.
A field service company provides direct support at
the tactical level. The company has the modular
capability of sending small teams as far forward as
desired by the supported commander. The unit provides one shower for each soldier each week. However, other sources can help to reach the goal of two
showers for each soldier each week. Other sources
could include field expediency methods, small unit
shower equipment, HNS, or contract services. The
field service company has equipment to provide mass
delousing operations under the direction and supervision of medical personnel.
The laundry and shower function does not include
laundry decontamination support. Detailed troop decontamination of chemical and biological agents does
not require showers. Radiation decontamination, however, may require showers. If soldiers use chemical
defense equipment against fallout, they do not need
showers. If they do not, then contamination lodges in
soldiers’ hair and on skin. Then only showers can
remove the contamination. Planners must ensure control of the runoff from these showers since it is contaminated. FM 3-5 has decontamination procedures.
The new chemical protective clothing keeps its protective qualities after laundering. Once exposed to contamination, it must be disposed of under theater policies.
FORCE PROVIDER
The Army’s Force Provider is a modular system,
principally designed to provide the front-line soldier
with a brief respite from the rigors of a combat environment. Each module will provide life support for up to 550
soldiers. It will include environmentally controlled
billeting; modern latrines, showers and kitchens; MWR
facilities; and complete laundry support. Additionally,
the module infrastructure will incorporate a complete
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water distribution/disposal system and power grid.
Modules can be complexed to provide contiguous
support to a brigade-sized force. The cadre for operating the Force Provider will consist of Force Provider
companies. However, they require augmentation to
effectively operate the system. Force Provider will
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also have potential for use as a staging area during
deployment/redeployment, a reconstitution site, and
an intermediate staging base. It is also ideally suited
for supporting MOOTW, particularly disaster assistance and humanitarian aid operations.